‘Travesty Against Tenets of Democracy:’ Omar Abdullah
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah welcomed with a tweet the release of his political rival Mehbooba Mufti. The leader said her detention was a ‘travesty’ and against the ‘tenets of democracy.’
On 6 February, 60-year-old Mehbooba and Abdullah were booked under the PSA, which allows detention without trial for up to three months and multiple extensions.
Abdullah was released by the administration in late March and had been demanding Mufti’s release since then. She was shifted to her official residence on 7 April after it was declared a subsidiary jail.
“It’s callous and cruel to continue to detain Mehbooba Mufti and others at a time like this (COVID-19 outbreak). There was never much justification to detain everyone in the first place and none at all to keep them detained as the country enters a three-week lockdown. I hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release them,” he had tweeted a day after his release then.